To Advance Tasks

To Advance Tasks

Task One: AoP Membership

Renewed my student membership with the Association of Photographers, need to make more use of it

Task Two: Photomonth

For photomonth I visited three exhibitions, a talk called A Woman’s Place In Photography at Printspace, which was attended by five female creatives which included my old tutor and Sony World Photographer of the Year Alys Tomlinson. The 2nd exhibition I saw was Windrush: A Portrait of a Generation at the Art Pavillion at Mile End. which was all about showing the core values of the Windrush generation. The final exhibition I saw was Nevertheless, She Persisted at F.Stop at Shoreditch, this was a very powerful portrait exhibition about females who had suffered from numerous atrocities like cancer, child-loss & self-harm to name a few.

Task Three: Professional Website

I created a professional website with Squarespace back in Janurary. To which I recently decided to include some of my portrait work which I’ve shot at Ravensbourne

Task Four: Instagram 7 Day Challenge

For this challenge, I decided to focus on puddle reflections along Southbank. This is a subject that regularly catches my eye and is something I upload to my personal Instagram a lot. This was a challenge where we had to upload at least 14 images over 7 days. I decided to upload 15 to maintain my upload style where I post a grid to summarise an event [so 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15 images] This was a eye-opening task for myself. This did lead to more interaction on my Instagram that usual but I still feel like I’m not getting that much.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqpKj4Nn7wV/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqrgMXRHabm/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqsFztNnxA0/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BquIJtBHofI/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqul2UBHE21/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqwkgm1H2q8/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqpf8cJH0ki/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqxoR9HnWUo/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqw9n0Znr0Y/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqz39QfntuC/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq13fuXnQtM/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq2lNrwHXZY/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq4Wmz4Hv8x/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq5QtOfnGGp/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqzOHsjH7O5/

Task Five: Studio Reflection Management

Nevertheless, She Persisted

Nevertheless, She Persisted

Another exhibition I saw as part of East London Photomonth was Nevertheless, She Persisted. A solo exhibition of Mhairi Bell-Moodie at the Espacio Gallery. I was going there to look at F.STOP but I must admit I didn’t really take anything from that exhibition, whereas this exhibition did.

19 of the 25 subjects

This was a very hard-hitting exhibition about the struggles of 25 women. Women who had struggled with child loss, domestic abuse, rape, self harm, breast cancer, suicidal thoughts and may more.

Bell-Moddie’s method of shooting is what makes this exhibition so thought-provoking. There are 25 very simple portraits with very simple lighting set-ups with a simple background, yet they have a massive story behind them and that it what Bell-Moodie was trying to portray, people can look ordinary but that doesn’t mean their mind or their history is, you could say these people put on a very brave face to put their stories in front of the camera.

The simple portrait we’re complimented by props next to them that shows what they suffered with, Nicky who lost her child during a C-Section has  a piece of paper with ink prints of hands and feet.

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WINDRUSH: A Portrait of a Generation

WINDRUSH: A Portrait of a Generation

On Friday I went around various exhibitions of the East London Photomonth with fellow students Tiana & Louise, the first exhibition we visited was the Windrush exhibition at the Art Pavillion in Mile End. Jim Grover shot this work over the last 12 months, he spent time in the Caribbean communities of South East London, he spent the time capturing the very distinctive ways in which the first generation of Caribbean migrants we’re living their lives, which we’re true to their culture and traditions.

This exhibition consists of 11 case studies that Jim documented, below are a few of my favourites

Bones

Jim Grover

The first study that caught my eye was Bones. It is unbeknown to most people that this game is still played. There are some clubs that do competitive leagues however this game is slowly disappearing at the people of this generation pass away.

With this set of images, I could see similarities in this and the work of my friend Chiara Contini with her photo-book Londra. In that book she took a few images of her local Italian community playing poker, different culture and different game but feels like it was shot in the same way.

Calypso

Jim Grover

Another very memorable image from the exhibition was from the Calypso study.

This was all about the music of that generation so Calypso, Reggae and Ska. This music was made for dancing and the Caribbean migrants and thats what they loved doing back in the day and they still do to this day.

This image instantly caught my eye, the shallow depth of field, coupled with the motion blur give a real vibe of a lively party, which is what I expected where I hear the names of this type of music.

Mother have, father have, happy the child that has his own

Jim Grover

A third and final case study I liked was all about ‘home’ for the Windrush generation. “Having your own home is very important to Jamaicans” the board pitched it, this was a set of five images which portrayed what is in the usual Windrush household, these include wallpaper which was more upmarket than paint, religious artefacts and ‘The Front Room’

There is a uniform to what makes up ‘The Front Room‘ these were a “glass cabinet, ornaments, family portraits, a radiogram, glass blowfish, a paraffin heater, artificial flowers, a drinks trolley or even a bar, complete with pineapple ice bucket“

Photo-month: A Woman’s Place in Photography

Photo-month: A Woman’s Place in Photography

Yesterday I attended the first of numerous events that I intended to see as part of East London Photo-month. I was at the Printspace in Shoreditch for talk about the position of woman in the practice of photography.

The in-conversation was between:

Jill Cotton. PR Director at the World Photography Organisation

Zelda Cheatle. Curator & Editor

Carol Allen-Storey. Photojournalist

Alys Tomlinson. Editorial & Fine Art Photographer who won the 2018 Sony World Photographer of the Year. Tutor of mine during Foundation

Maggie Pinhorn. Director, Producer, Designer, Curator & Lecturer.

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• At the start of the talk it was stated that the number of female photographers has grown. In 1983 only 20% of photographers we’re female. In 2008 the number had increased to 42.8% and now 60% of photographers are female. Yet there are still instances where theres a female photographer and male art director. People always tend to think the roles are the other way round. It was also stated that in 2005, the media income for a female photographer was half that of men.

 

• Maggie Pinhorn raised a point on how, when you Google ‘Female Photographers’ you tend to get loads of responses, lists of best ones etc. but when you Google ‘Male Photographers’ you don’t really get a list like the former. Thats because photography is still perceived to be a male job. Maggie also has influence when it comes to the chosen work in the East London Photo-month and she said there are too many competitions but clients in general who judge photographers based on their gender, but not their personality or portfolio.

 

• Alys Tomlinson believed that there are certain advantages to being a female photographer. For example when photographing children and when trying to creative a really sensitive male portrait.

 

• Maggie next spoke about how much East London Photo-month has grown. It was started back in 2001, after Maggie went round most cities and was staggered to see London as one of the few capital cities that didn’t have a Photo-month festival. It was also mentioned that this years exhibition in the Printspace was all about women in the world. There we’re 50 selected images, 28 we’re women, 22 males.

 

• Carol Allen-Storey said that Photography is “competitive and bias“, you have to be determined and have a passion for what your doing, regardless of whether your a male or female photographer. If your female you have to be even more determined and passionate. Which is a shame because we aren’t male photographers, we are photographers. Carol believes strongly in “A picture is a poem without words” You also have to be incredibly focused and understand what your position is.

 

• Alys then commented on how a lot of picture editors are female. She followed on to talk about how to break into the industry. We should spend time to build up our style and aesthetic. Most importantly you need to keep adding to our contacts. This is a very tough industry, it’s an unpredictable lifestyle, there will be set backs but at the same time, there has never been an easier time to share your work. Just look at Instagram, one photographer who studied at Ravensbourne has over 95K followers and that’s how he got his work and how he still does. He was selected as a photographer to show the Huawei cameras that are made by Leica. Alys ended it with it is something that won’t happen overnight, it requires a lot of passion and hard-graft.

 

• Carol agreed with Alys by saying “The harder you work, the luckier you get“

 

• Maggie that you have to be true to yourself, she also said that if there aren’t enough opportunities, you need to make one. Can’t join an agency, start one.

 

• Carol next spoke about he value of having a good personal project. She said “Personal work is a reflection of how your feeling and seeing the world” She also mentioned about the 209 Women project. To mark 100 years since ‘most women got the right to vote‘ there was a project for 209 females photographers to shoot the 209 female MPs. They we’re hoping that by now in 2018, there would be a 50/50 split of male/female MPs but there isn’t. So that why it was important to do the project. Not only to show how far females have come but also how far there is still to go.

 

• Next Alys spoke about the publishing industry. This is something I was eager to hear about seeing on how I’m considering taking my World War One photo-book further. Unfortunately it is still heavily self-funded. Not to the point where we have to find the four sometimes five-figure sum ourselves, we can set-up a crowdfunding campaign, but we still have to find donors. Making your own book is one thing, getting it out there is another. Carol said you also have to take into account the storage space. Do you have room to keep hold of a massive order of your work. Most photo-book ventures tend to have the books produced first and then sold to publishers on the spot. Of course there are loads of publishing companies but you still ultimately have to find the capital ourselves.

 

• Carol’s final comment was that it is very expensive to be a photographer, not only is equipment expensive to buy but it’s also expensive to keep-up. She shoots with a Canon 5D Mark III and she said theres already a Canon 5D Mark IV. Which there isn’t yet, but it is rumoured to be launched next year. Either way her point is spot on. I myself brought the latest Canon 5D Mark IV in April 2018, it wasn’t even 2 years old. So I had the latest Full-frame DSLR that isn’t a flagship, it’s actually the most modern Canon DSLR to date, more than the 1DX Mark 2. However it’s rumoured that the latest 5D is coming out next year, 2020 at the latest. It’s the same across the board, look at iPhone at the 2017 keynote they revealed the iPhone 8 and at the same time revealed the iPhone X to come-out a few months later. So why buy the 8 when in a few months time it’s gonna be out-of-date.

 

• Final suggestion from the panel was to repeatedly engage with the photography community, Alys said that it’s perceived that photographers always think of themselves, but we’re actually really nice, generous and helpful people. It was also recommended that you go to portfolio reviews and be prepared for constructive criticism.

Printspace

Printspace

This evening I’m going to be attending A Women’s Place in Photography. This is a talk between my old tutor Alys Tomlinson and renowned curator & editor Zelda Cheatle. Whilst there I was also be looking at Photomonth Photo-Open Women in Photography.

East London Photo-month First thoughts

East London Photo-month First thoughts

One task that I’ve been given on my return to Digital Photography is to visit at least 3 Events/Shows at different venues during the October/November East London Photomonth. I’m hoping to visit as many as possible and I already have my eyes on a few events.

 

 

 

 

• F.STOP

The first exhibition that caught my eye was F.STOP which is held at the ESPACIO Gallery in Bethnal Green.

The first image I saw instantly caught my eye as classic street photography image. Where an image of a puddle has been flipped. This is something I have done many times before. I’m eager to see this exhibition because I myself have had a soft spot for street photography, I’ve wanted to try it before but I’ve never really had the confidence to do it. This exhibition also explores into “portrait, abstract, fashion, still life … and many other genres”

I’m also interested in this exhibition because of the vast amount of photographers in this exhibition.

• Isle Of Dogs: Before the Big Money

Another exhibition that caught my eye was about the transformation of the Isle of Dogs. The area has always been a favourite subject of mine, I’ve always known it as the financial district and the luxury apartments but every time I go there, I always finds something new to act as a hint to the past.

This exhibition is held in Georges Green School.

 

• Photomonth Photobook Print Fair

On Saturday the 27th of October, there is a photo-book fair at the RICH MIX Main Venue. Ever since my photo-story project I’ve become increasingly connected with photo-books. I considering taking that project further and this would be a really good place to meet publishers.

• WINDRUSH: Portrait of a Generation

Jim Grover

Another exhibition that caught my eye was this one. Windrush has been a very hot topic in recent months and thats why it stood out. This exhibition is held at the Art Pavillion in Mile End.